Topic: Things not explained but you'd like to know in Castlevania

[Sindra]

Sindra man, please help me with this one:
Are we sure if there's only one Belmont bloodline or could the whip be inherited by another Belmont who isn't son of the last wielder? Juste's nephew being the wielder if he has no sons, or is every Belmont hunter a direct descendant of the last one?

Isn't that the point of the branch families? A female Belmont has yet to wield the whip, but obviously her children or grandchildren did because we have the Morris and Schneider clans able to use the whip. Therefore they were the nephews and great-nephews of the last male Belmont wielder. It can be done.



darkwxrd4 - If Nocturne of Recollection is to be believed (and I am fairly certain its canon), the best ending of Symphony of the Night where Maria runs after Alucard to be with him actually happened, because they are living together a year later. From this scenario, it can be pretty much tacked up on the billboard that Alucard and Maria end up a romantic couple and have children. (chances are she talked him out of being emo and mopey about his cursed blood) This is further backed up by the heavy hints that the Lecarde's are the descendants of Maria and Alucard (Renard + Alucard = Lecarde? Sounds as plausible as anything. In those times a woman having children unwed was looked down upon, so combing the surnames into something new to avoid suspicion would make sense) Maria is a distant Belmont descendant, so she'd be where the Lecarde's Belmont genes came from.

[Sindra]

Also, anyone ever wonder how the Belmont's were able to item crash with their sub-weapons? How was a hero with seemingly only a few knives on their person able to dish out a blazing torrent of several dozen knives in the span of a few seconds? Able to summon multiple axes when they obviously weren't carrying them all previously?

My theory on that is in the same vein as my one on the hearts. A Belmont's power comes from not just their ability with the Vampire Killer, but from their high degree of manipulating the metaphysical. Perhaps this comes from exposure to alchemy; perhaps its something bestowed upon them from a higher power; perhaps its both. Regardless, they can perform feats beyond normal hunters because of control over their own unique life-force. This is evident that they can combine and amplify the holy properties of the Cross into the huge Cross item crash. Using this same idea, taking a blessed knife, and being able to manipulate their life-force into making knife-replicas to throw in succession (almost like after-images) that deal similar damage as the original knife, would not be out of the realm of their power. Same with axes - create life-force replicas of the weapon in order to throw them out in multiple directions for increased damage.

This would facilitate the need for "hearts", or the tiny bits of life-force left behind by the souls of the victims they release from either candles or enslaved enemies. It acts as a replenishment to the life-force of the Belmont so they can continue the use of the sub-weapons. Same with magic - magic is widely believed to be fueled by a person's life-force as much as from nature. Portrait of Ruin helps the idea in the idea that the duel crush "1000 Blades" was fueled by Jonathan's and Charlotte's life-forces combined - magic and inbred ability both used to not only create the same effect of creating the multiple knives, but amplifying it by drawing on them both.

[Flame]

On the matter of chapels-

My opinion:

while they may just be chapels of some church of chaos, it is possible that it is supposed to be some form of regret in Dracula. or some sort of deeply buried need to "make it up" to God or something. something which would culminate in his resurrection as Soma, Mathias' "second chance".

Id like to know-

in Symphony, at the end, when Alucard tells him Lisa's final words, to not harm humans, he seems to have made his peace with her, understanding her wish.

And yet... later games, he's back, ready to kill some humans despite Lisa's wishes.

[X]

My theory on that is in the same vein as my one on the hearts. A Belmont's power comes from not just their ability with the Vampire Killer, but from their high degree of manipulating the metaphysical. Perhaps this comes from exposure to alchemy; perhaps its something bestowed upon them from a higher power; perhaps its both

The Belmont clan has always had supreme powers over that of ordinary people. Even in LoI Leon's inner powers enhanced the vampirekiller without the aid of of Alchamy. This being the case I can assume it's something more on the lines of spirituality. But I only think it's for some of the item crashes and not all of them. Richter is also an accomplished martial artist as seen in RoB and SotN. His ability to throw multiple daggers in a rapid-fire motion can easily be done with martial arts. A question I would really like the answer to is 'when' did the Belmont family first become endowed with such power? You've still got a lotta good explanations going there Sindra. Can't wait to read'em.

-X

[DragonSlayr81]

Chapels: I thinK Dracula includes chapels in his castle not as a means of representing Christianity more than a means to mock God. Dracula's chapels are anything BUT holy. Even the earliest depiction in the series, with CV1's Red Brick Cathedral, featured Medusa's bust on the altar(as if it was the idol of worship).

Orbs: Originally, game-wise, they seemed to solely be a means of replenishing health after defeating a boss(like hearts, some video games back in the day did this type of thing). In the games, LoI showed that the orbs had some significance. They each were part of the seal that opened the way to Walter's Pagoda of the Misty Moon, and each were held by the five bosses of Walter's castle. They were also treated like relics, and Leon could use them, combining their abilties with sub-weapons for different effects.

[Flame]

Yeah, I liked how LoI did that. way to take a spin on an unexplained gameplay mechanic.

thing is though, in the original vania, you even got one for beating Dracula. Which was ridiculous.

its the same as the red orbs you can pick up from enemies in Megaman 1. points. only here they replenish health too.

[A-Yty]

thing is though, in the original vania, you even got one for beating Dracula. Which was ridiculous.

Not really. It was cool and dramatic. Especially since you got that final victory jingle and the game begins a new round  

When religion was still deeply rooted in the game's mythology, I liked to think the Holy Spirit or the Poltergeist King was the one who dropped that energy orb to help the hero.

[Flame]

When religion was still deeply rooted in the game's mythology,

it still isnt?

[Sindra]

A question I would really like the answer to is 'when' did the Belmont family first become endowed with such power?

Leon was an amazing fighter and had years of experience battling in the Crusades. This gave him an edge most people didn't have in terms of fighting steep odds. I'm not certain if he had any innate spiritual power, other than sheer willpower and tenacity, that would have given him a greater advantage over another person put in his shoes. The Vampire Killer resonated with him because it was created using the tainted soul of the person he loved most, and who loved him most in return - Sara. This could be said to be a combination of the power of alchemy used to create the whip in the first place, and the power of the human spirit to not only go through the sorrow of the ordeal, but still hold fast to the ideals and push forward despite the tragic nature. I think *that* is when the spiritual powers of the Belmont clan began to truly bud. Resonance with the whip (a sort of symbiosis that would provide power to both through both) and a growth of the human spirit beyond what a normal person would be able to endure helped to strengthen Leon and his descendant's resolve, along with the devout pledge to God and the protection of the innocent against the overwhelming odds against them in the form of vampires in general, and more specifically Dracula.

It's been said that hope and the human spirit are the most difficult things for demons and evil to break - and with the sorrow Leon overcame and the strength he received from it, the Belmont's from then on became the humans with probably the greatest amounts of both of those attributes - something that would be seen as a bane against all forces of evil. How else could a single Belmont have the courage and resolve to march into battle with not only Dracula, but hundreds if-not thousands of his undead and demonic minions across probably miles of befouled lands and corrupted castle that themselves were out to get him? Nothing more than supreme power of the human spirit and the instilled hope of past generations of Belmont's and townsfolk alike could push a hunter into accepting those odds, yet the Belmont's did.

Couple this with the relics the Belmont's gathered over the centuries, the skills and techniques each generation was able to learn and hand down to the next (more than likely some interaction with eastern cultures that resulted in martial combat fighting skills being added, like was evident with Richter), and continuing growth of their spirituality and continued increased control over their metaphysical powers - and you pretty much have the legacy of how the Belmont's became the greatest and most revered vampire hunters in history.

[X]

No wonder all other hunter are jealous, even Charlie Vincent scoffed at Reinhardt for claiming he was out to destroy Dracula. Pfft! whattever Charlie. Take a back seat and let the Belmonts do THEIR job.

-X

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

He just thought he was a greenhorn rookie as opposed to an experienced oldtimer.  It was more of an age thing.  Plus Reinhardt didn't have the "Belmont" surname.  I think it would've been cool if the conversation continued something like "I'm not just an obstinate youth.  I am a descentant of the Belmont Clan" and then Charlie Vincent would said something like "Oh I see!  But you're still so young.  Do not push forward foolishly, I warn you!"

But Reinhardt didn't mention it.

[Sindra]

Id like to know-

in Symphony, at the end, when Alucard tells him Lisa's final words, to not harm humans, he seems to have made his peace with her, understanding her wish.

And yet... later games, he's back, ready to kill some humans despite Lisa's wishes.

In that regard, I believe Dracula might be partly influenced by outside means.

Dracula, by that point, had become a force of nature. This is evident in his resurrection cycle and his feeding off of the dark and evil emotions of the humans in the world. I honestly believe that, to a certain degree, that same malice and chaos that humanity exhibits that help to empower Dracula also influence him. Dracula's personality can sometimes differ between resurrections, and this could be due to being affected by the humans in the immediate area. In some depictions, vampires have a certain degree of empathic abilities -this enables them to read the emotions of their victims in order to better seduce or battle them. Due to Dracula being the most powerful vampire, his empathic abilities would more than likely be greater. He can certainly feel the darkness in men's hearts - it's what feeds him. What if Dracula was swayed by these same feelings and emotions?

Perhaps Alucard's love for his father influenced Dracula's words and thoughts after his defeat in Symphony of the Night. It's a plausible idea - that a strong enough love would placate Dracula. Certainly this could have been how he was able to find the love of Lisa and maintain it, despite the misery and hate that humanity radiated and that Dracula no doubt could sense. Maybe at those times, the opposite emotions canceled each other out and Dracula was able to simply be just that - a man, lamenting his sins against his beloved family, if but briefly. However, he didn't have these factors in future games - no strong positive emotions to counteract the negative ones. Hell, even the heroes had nothing but negative feelings against Dracula. No doubt this shift back to being the focal point of the world's chaos and misery and hate clouded Dracula's mindset. He may have truly meant to have Lisa's forgiveness, but he simply couldn't help himself. He was what he was - the Prince of Darkness and Lord of Vampires.

[Ahasverus]

That makes sense... LOT of sense  you keep impressing me Master Librarian Sindra!

[darkwzrd4]

Well, as AoS informs us, Dracula uses the power of Chaos and being that the castle is a product of Dracula's magic, a stream of Chaos exists with in the castle.  That is why the castle keeps changing and also why Soma almost turned evil in AoS.  Dracula (or whoever is lord of the castle) is in essence possessed by the Chaos, which is pure evil.  This is why Dracula is so powerful and so evil.  It's possible that Dracula's love for Lisa was great enough to keep the influence of Chaos in check.  In other words, her presence my have kept the Chaos from controlling Dracula.  With her gone, there is nothing keeping the Chaos from manipulating Dracula's behavior. 

On another topic, I have a question.  Dracula seeks to exterminate all humans, right?  Yet, he has human followers and underlings like the devilforgemasters (Hector and Issac) and the dark priest Shaft.  So, why does he allow them to serve him and live in the castle?

[alex085]

Sindra, you and I have come to some pretty similar theories, exactly so in the case of the stop watch and how the Belmonts improved, you're a great writer.  I'm creative writing major who loves Castlevania so I put theories to everything, we should talk in pm!  I'm going to start a topic I think you'll like called "Story edits" asking how you'd write or re-write the stories of certain games, hope you join in.

Ok... my theories.

First off I believe that Dracula can be resurrected at anytime, but it is times that break the 100 year mark that weaken him, reviving him not at full power.  However I do not think he can ever just pop back on his own, as this has never been shown to be the case.  It also seems that premature resurrection lengthens the amount of time it takes for him to be revived at full power.  Whenever serious strain is put on his spirit it increases the amount of time needed for it to "recharge" so to speak.

I also think that the reason Shanoa is "the only one" who can wield Dominus is because she is either the child or grandchild of Alucard and Maria.  I also think Albus is in the same vein as hector or Isaac in terms of how he is different from normal people.  If you read the Manga you'll know what I mean.  I also wouldn't be surprised if Barlow had some ties to Shaft, i don't think he was ever a good guy.

I would post more, but Sindra you really were very close to most of mine in the questions in this thread.  In the case of the Scneider/Morris thing, I just make my Reinhart the first Morris VK wielder in my re-write =) you'll see in the thread.  Scneider can be a code name. lol